"It's not very often that a designated hitter gets credited with a save, but that's precisely what David Ortiz was shooting for yesterday.

Speaking with reporters before Round 2 of the Red Sox' three-game set against the Yankees at Fenway Park, Big Papi made sure to close out any criticism that might be heaped upon teammate Jarrod Saltalamacchia for some comments made by the catcher after Tuesday's series opener.

For those who missed it, the Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli homered off Sox starter John Lackey and then did some stylin'. Next time he was up, Lackey drilled him. After the game, Saltalamacchia, speaking of the Venezuelan's hot-dogging, said: "The game's changing. A lot of Latin players, that's how they play. It's OK to an extent. But sometimes you've got to step back."

Saltalamacchia then asked for a do-over, saying, "I basically wanted to clarify and say I wasn't trying to say 'Latin' players or any of that stuff. I was just saying he was an emotional guy and a lot of the younger guys coming up were emotional players," and so on.

Enter David Ortiz.

"He's a great kid, he's a great kid," Ortiz said of Saltalamacchia.

Big Papi then rubber-stamped Saltalamacchia's statement about Latin players, saying, "I mean, we are like that for real."

And then Ortiz laughed really, really hard."